The invention relates to an automobile vehicle equipped with a so-called xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d access and/or engine starting control system including a receiving antenna located on the vehicle""s steering column.
There are known automobile vehicle xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d systems that enable a user carrying an identification device (or identifier) to control parts of the vehicle, for example the door locks or the engine starting system, simply by entering a delimited zone close to the vehicle, the identifier being recognized by control means installed in the vehicle. The identifier is generally constituted by a transponder which, when it receives signals emitted by the vehicle to detect its presence, responds by emitting a radio signal. A receiving antenna in the vehicle, fitted for example at the top of the steering column, picks up these response signals. It is connected to a radio receiver subassembly which converts the signals received by the antenna into a form acceptable by a management logic subassembly assuring the control functions. This management logic subassembly checks whether or not the signals received match a predetermined signal characteristic of a specific identifier. If the match is established, the emitting identifier is considered to be authenticated and the system then authorizes or triggers at least one predetermined action in the vehicle.
In known systems, the management logic subassembly is located at some distance from the radio receiver subassembly and the receiving antenna, in particular when this antenna is situated near the top of the steering column as mentioned above. This arrangement is not optimal in terms of cost and efficiency. In particular the long transmission delays of the received signals are not conducive to the fast response to the received signals.
Moreover, known systems often have numerous wire connections running along at feast part of the vehicle""s steering column, from the top of the column to the rest of the vehicle to connect the various electrical control and/or signaling parts which are often mounted on the steering column, the steering wheel and/or on specialized satellite modules on the column.
The invention is therefore an automobile vehicle equipped with a xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d access and/or engine starting system controlled by a management logic subassembly and equipped with a radio receiver subassembly, which includes at the top of the vehicle""s steering column a radio antenna and which converts radio signals received by said antenna into signals exploitable by said management logic subassembly to enable it, when it recognizes said signals as coming from an identification device of a predetermined user, to authorize or trigger an operation in the vehicle, said management logic subassembly, said radio receiver subassembly and said antenna being integrated in and interconnected by an electronic board, wherein this electronic board also includes a subassembly providing interfaces with xe2x80x9con-the-columnxe2x80x9d control and/or signaling parts mounted on the vehicle""s steering column or steering wheel and/or on one or more satellite modules mounted on this steering column.
According to a characteristic of the invention, an electronic board fitted at the top of the steering column carries said antenna and integrates said management logic subassembly of said xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d system and said radio receiver subassembly that it interconnects. This arrangement notably increases the processing speed of the identifier authentication operations and therefore reduces the time necessary to trigger an action by the xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d system when an identifier is authenticated.
In a variant of the invention, the electronic board at the top of the steering column integrates the management logic subassembly of the xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d system, the radio receiver subassembly and an interface subassembly providing interfaces with xe2x80x9con-the-columnxe2x80x9d control and/or signaling systems mounted on the vehicle""s steering column or steering wheel and/or on one or more satellite modules fitted on this steering column.
In a variant of the invention, the interface subassembly is controlled by the management logic subassembly, to which it is connected via the electronic board. This enables use of the processing capacities of the management logic subassembly for processes other than those relating directly to the xe2x80x9chands-freexe2x80x9d system, provided this management logic subassembly has multitasking ability.
In a variant of the invention, the electronic board at the top of the steering column is connected to a serial bus-type digital data transmission link which is shared to handle communication between various vehicle subassemblies and/or systems transmitting and/or receiving data. This bus is used by at least one of the subassemblies of the electronic board and/or by on-the-column control and signaling parts connected to at least one of these subassemblies.